The Better Brother

“Hedonistic Adventures?” I exclaimed. “Singles cruise! What were you thinking, Lila?”

Lila cackled, falling back on my bed, her long brown hair flying around her face as she rolled around, obviously enjoying every second of my freak-out.

“I thought it would be fun, Josie,” she said. “I thought doing something different and exciting for a change would be a blast. Not to mention that I think it'd be good for you.”

I stared at her, disbelief running through my veins, mixing with the anxiety. Of all the things she could have done, taking me on a singles cruise was probably about the worst thing. This was not my scene, nor was I interested in it. I had too much to worry about without having to worry about, well, something like that. I'd heard about singles cruises before and it was definitely not for me.

“What?” she asked, the smile on her face growing even wider. “You don't think it sounds like fun?”

“Not really,” I mumbled. “You know I'm a—”

“I know, I know,” Lila said, propping herself up on her elbow, giving me a long look. “But I thought maybe you could cut loose a little bit. Maybe even meet someone. God knows, you need to get laid, Josie.”

I threw the brochure at her, a wide range of thoughts and emotions rolling through my mind and body. The ship had already left port, so there was no way to get off now. I was stuck there, on a cruise ship full of single men, all of them looking to get laid. Great.

Not that she was wrong. I did want to have sex. Eventually. It just wasn't that easy for met with my conservative, strict upbringing, and my mom's old-fashioned views on sex ringing in my ears every time I tried to get intimate with a guy.

Knowing all that, if Lila thought taking me on a cruise full of horny men would change that overnight, she was not only a fool, she'd wasted a lot of money.

“I guess I can hang out by the one pool that isn't clothing optional,” I mumbled.

“Come on, Josie, you have a great body,” Lila said.

I scowled at her. “That's not the point.”

While Lila had a supermodel kind of body—slim and trim, naturally—I was more on the curvy side. I had hips and a little belly on me. My breasts were larger and fuller, which was the one thing I had on Lila I supposed. But it wasn't something I was proud of, thanks to my mom always chastising me to keep them covered up to “avoid tempting the wrong kinds of men.”

“The best part about a cruise like this, Josie, is you'll never see any of these people again,” Lila smiled. “So you don't have to be ashamed and you don't have to worry. What happens on this ship, stays on this ship. You can let loose, get naked, have wild sex with a stranger in the hallway and never have to worry about running into him again. And you never have to worry about anybody here judging you because we're all here for the same thing.”

I had to admit, it sounded nice in theory, but I knew I was frigid. Not that I didn't want to ha

ve sex. I just froze whenever things headed that way. I'd freeze and bolt, the echo of my mom's voice in my head condemning me for being a whore.

“We'll see,” I sighed, falling back onto the perfect little cloud I'd be sleeping on. “At least the bed is comfortable.”

ooo000ooo

“Just because it's clothing optional doesn't mean you have to get naked, you know,” Lila said. “You can still wear your swimsuit, no one will care. That's the definition of the word optional, silly. Didn't you learn that in college?”

“But that means I have to stare at a bunch of naked people.”

Lila raised an eyebrow. “What, you don't like naked men?”

“That's not what I meant,” I countered. “Having them parading around in front of me, all dangling and flopping around like that—it'd just be weird, that's all.”

“Nothing weird about it,” Lila argued. “Just because you were raised to be a prude, doesn't mean there's anything wrong with nudity. The human body is a beautiful thing. A work of art, even. You should enjoy it as such.”

My cheeks flushed red and burned with the heat of embarrassment. I knew there was no way she was going to let me get out of it. Lila had always been wilder than me, and she got a kick out of pushing me out of my comfort zone. Most of the time, it was a lot of fun and I could later admit that I needed it, but sometimes, it was a bit too much.

Still, she was right. I liked men as much as any straight, warm-blooded female, and I could admire their naked form as much as the next girl.

“As long as I can stay dressed, fine,” I said, grudgingly.

Which was how we ended up in the top pool deck, surrounded by naked people. Men and women, strolling around and letting it all hang out like the didn't have a care in the world. As I looked around, though, I noticed that I wasn't the only one hesitant to take their clothes off, thankfully. I wasn't alone up there.

It almost seemed to me like the folks who stripped down the quickest were either seasoned pros or perhaps had been hired to help people get more comfortable. There were also quite a few people who remained partially clothed. A few women removed their tops. Guys wore nothing but a towel covering their privates.

Lila was wearing a tiny bikini that barely covered anything as it was, and she reached behind and undid the halter straps, letting it fall and exposing her A-cup breasts in all their glory. I gaped at her, not even close to believing she'd just bared her chest for the world to see. Lila's breasts were paler than the rest of her skin.